Previous studies have shown that indoor environmental factors such as ventilation, lighting, noise and contact with nature can influence the occupant perception of the working environments. But there is still hot debate over whether a green hospital is more comfortable to work in. Since the green healthcare design is increasingly adopted in practice, it's important to assure this new healthcare design addresses the needs of the patient and staff, with the sustainability considered at the same time. Current studies on hospital design more often concentrates on the patient side. Less attention has been given to healthcare staff. There is evidence linking the working environments to the turnover rate of nurses, medical errors of the doctors and staff, and the overall care they deliver. Therefore it's very important to study the impact of built environment on healthcare staff and identify the factors that influence the perception of comfort and satisfaction.This research adopts quantitative study using surveys. The participants are the healthcare staff including doctors and nurses from three hospitals, two of which are LEED-certified hospitals and the other is not LEED-certified hospital with conventional designed. The questionnaire asks questions regarding their general information, the perception of their working condition and the overall satisfaction. Data is analyzed with statistics comparing the difference in the perceived comfort and satisfaction in different types of hospitals. Built environmental factors that have significant impact on healthcare staff are identified.The results show a significant difference between two types of hospitals studied. Staff working in the LEED-certified hospital feel more comfortable and show a higher satisfaction level towards their working environments. Although the sample size is relatively small which will limit the generalization of the findings, the study provides valuable empirical results to reveal the relation between the building design and the comfort and satisfaction of healthcare staffs, which will shed light on the future hospital design.
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